When the tough talk is over, let’s listen to sense on crime

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OH GOD, there’s an election coming. And I can predict the result already: Hangers and Floggers 3, Soggy Liberals 0. No Tory or Labour politician is prepared to speak a syllable of sense on law and order at this stage in the electoral cycle. Which is why I fear that the refreshingly rational report out today from Rethinking Crime and Punishment (RCP) will be crushed in the rush to “crack down”.

May I suggest instead that policymakers and their shadows file the report in an envelope marked “Open on May 6, 2005, read carefully and enact”? For it contains more